Monday, October 01, 2007

Scoring... NASCAR Style

One of most little-known positions on a race team is the scorer. Red Bull Racing's travel coordinator Abbie spots for the No. 84. She was nice enough to let us into her world in Dover a couple of weeks ago. At most tracks, you will find the scorer's stand high above the race track, as you can see from the picture above.

Each team is required to have a scorer. They keep track of what happens each and every lap of a long NASCAR race and push a button every time the car passes on the race track, which can get a little nuts when you are at a short track like Bristol and the race is 500 laps long! They also keep track of lap times, cautions and other important info - this serves as a backup in case NASCAR's electronic system was to go down. Scorer's are also the first to get their hands on the updated owner and driver points standings after a race that crew chiefs and management are always eager to see!

Ten to fifteen NASCAR officials hang out in the scorer's stand to make sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing. And a scorer is NOT allowed to leave their car unattended. If they need to step away for a bathroom break or anything else, they have to find someone to fill in. In fact, just a few weeks ago a fellow scorer left his car unattended, and the crew chief was fined! As you can see, NASCAR takes this job very seriously.

Another "scoring" fact is the scorer's sit according to points or according to the qualifying order - it depends on the track as to which system they use. Poor Abbie has been stuck at the back of the room for a good part of the year when the points system is used, but jokes that she is always near the bathroom.

Since the races can sometimes last a long time, she usually takes enough Red Bull with her to keep everyone awake!

16 go or go homers for dega. BV and AJ will have to be in the top eight to race. I know it is a COT race and we haven’t been good on the super speedways so far this year. Anyone know if TRB has been doing extra testing and if so has there been any progress?